My exhale comes out soft and ruined and completely unguarded.I’m nothing like the woman who walked into this town with a recorder and an agenda and walls built three stories high.Maddox Hartley has taken every single one of them apart, brick by brick, and I’ve let him.I would let him do it again every single day for the rest of my life.
My phone rings from somewhere on the floor.I spot it, half out of the back pocket of my jeans, pooled near the baseboard, and reach for it.
Lara Crandall.
Maddox groans at the screen and presses his lips to my bare shoulder, teeth grazing lightly.“Do you have to get it?”
“Yes, otherwise she’ll hunt me down at the festival.”I hit speaker, and we pull apart, both reaching for discarded clothes.Working with Lara Crandall has been an eye-opener—for a small-town woman, she could give Fortune 500 CEOs a run for their money.
“Hi, Lara, how are you?”
“Grace, what did she say?”
A laugh escapes before I can catch it.I love how she skips any preamble and cuts straight to the point.
“Yes.She’s in.I spoke to Casey, and she’s very interested.I’m waiting for her assistant to reach out with times to set up a meeting.”
An elated gasp punches through the line.“Wonderful.You let me know when, and I’ll make myself available.”
“Of course.”I fasten the button on my jeans.“Talk soon.”
“Yes.And Grace—” Lara pauses.
“Mm?”
“Thank you.”
Maddox’s brows shoot to his hairline, and I smile.“You’re welcome, Lara.”
When I end the call, he stares at me.“Wow.Lara Crandall thanked you.You have no idea how rare that is.”
“She isn’t all that bad.”I shake my head, smoothing my shirt.“A little uptight, wants things done her way, but I think her heart’s mostly in the right place.”
He makes a sound of pure disbelief.“Don’t say that in front of Wren.Lara tried to destroy her not too long ago.”
“Oh.”I hadn’t known that, though I recall Katie saying something similar, and I file it away to revisit with Wren later.
“So, you’re actually doing this?Working with Lara.”He scratches at his jaw, his tone careful, something close to concern tucked underneath it.
“Yeah.”
“And what exactly are you doing?”
“She wants to start a mental health facility—not just for Winslow Grove, but for the surrounding small towns.That’s why she wanted to pull the funding from the Volunteer Fire Department.”I shake my head, still not entirely following her logic there.
I understood she needed financial backing, but taking it from a resource this town depends on never sat right with me.I think back to our last meeting, only days ago, when she finally laid out her vision.I’d told her I knew someone who runs a foundation that funds exactly these kinds of projects, and the last I heard, they were looking for opportunities outside of California.
Her nose scrunched at the mention of the state, and I swallowed my smile.We may not be each other’s cup of tea, but we could be useful to each other, and that was enough.
I didn’t want Winslow Grove to lose the VFD.What they’d done for Patsy, the way Eddie had steadied me after the fire—those were the kinds of things you didn’t fully appreciate until they were gone.I didn’t want anyone to face a worse outcome than Patsy had because the funding wasn’t there.
“Huh.”Maddox crosses his arms, mouth tipping up at the corner.“I figured she wanted to start a spy club.”
I snort and swat his arm lightly, though Lara’s reputation as the town’s self-appointed keeper of everyone else’s business isn’t exactly unfounded.
“I mean no disrespect, but her ideas usually come with a personal angle.”He leans against the doorframe, something thoughtful settling into his expression, like he’s revising a long-held opinion and isn’t quite sure where it lands yet.
“I get that.”I drag a brush through my hair and swipe on a light coat of gloss.“And I wouldn’t be surprised if there is one.I get the sense it’s personal, and I intend to find out, not to expose or undermine her, but so whatever we build fills her needs.Lets her feel like she’s doing something that matters.”